ERIN ARMSTRONG’S story isn’t one of a small-town farm girl making her way into the ag industry. Having been born in Winnipeg and spending her early school years in Montréal, the director of industry and regulatory affairs for Canterra Seeds didn’t have any intention of getting into agriculture. “I’m a city girl. Ag was not on my mind at all. As with much of my life and career, it was a process of elimination,” she says. “I was considering all kinds of things, from architec- ture to law to science. I ended up doing my undergrad in food science.” For all intents and purposes, Armstrong could have enjoyed a career in that field, help- ing craft new food products for consumers, and never entering the seed industry. That is until she found herself at the University of Ottawa working for a professor who was researching a bacterium called Bacillus thur- ingiensis, or Bt, and a toxin it was known to produce that was lethal to insects. The Bt trait is now incorporated into genetically modified corn, potato and cotton to prevent it from being destroyed by pests. “I didn’t appreciate what I was work- ing on until afterward,” she says. It was the beginning of her intro- duction to crops and the science behind them, which was further developed during her PhD project at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Erin Armstrong says the key to succeeding in the industry is to follow your heart, don’t be afraid of trying different things, and work to unite people. Marc Zienkiewicz 14 GERMINATION.CA SEPTEMBER 2017 HOWTOBEHEARD IN SEED Erin Armstrong is director of industry and regulatory affairs for Canterra Seeds.